Sprint said to be dropping bid for T-Mobile

LOS ANGELES -- Shares of Sprint and T-Mobile have fallen sharply in after-hours trading after a published report said Sprint was ending its pursuit of a merger of the two cellphone carriers.

Sprint shares fell more than 15 percent while T-Mobile shares were off almost 9 percent in extended trading Tuesday after The Wall Street Journal said Sprint had concluded it would be too difficult to convince regulators to approve the merger of the No. 3 and No. 4 carriers in the country.

The newspaper cited people familiar with the matter it did not name and said Sprint planned to make an announcement about its plans early Wednesday.

Sprint spokesman Scott Sloat said the company had no comment on rumors and speculation. T-Mobile spokeswoman Anne Marshall declined to comment.